There is growing concern over the high number of incidents of light commercial vehicles being overloaded. According to the VOSA Effectiveness Report for 2006/07, out of 6,050 vans (mostly between 2.9 tonnes and 3.5 tonnes) weighed, 3,335 were prohibited for being overloaded. The percentage of vans prohibited at checks stood at 55.1%, up on the previous year's 38.7% and on 2004/05's 30.5%.
These figures do not surprise the Freight Transport Asso-ciation's (FTA) national quality manager Paul Whitehead, who cites the number of fleets downsizing from 7.5 tonnes to 3.5 tonnes as a key cause of the problem. He says: "They [the fleets] move to 3.5 tonnes because they want more flexibility with the use of the vehicle, but not enough of them understand that they cannot exceed the gross vehicle weight," he says.
"They are putting too much equipment into their vans. They also forget that if they have passengers in the van this also adds to the overall weight." He says the worst culprits 
are smaller fleets, but believes part of the blame also falls on the rental sector. "There is information available, but people are just not taking it on board. They think they have got the volume and the space in a van. 'I can fill it,' they say. But do they know the difference between filling up a van with foam blocks and filling it up with bags of sand?" he asks.
Tim Ridyard, road transport lawyer and partner at Ipswich-based Barker Gotelee Solicitors, agrees that it is a growing problem. He says part of the issue stems from a growing number of vans being used as mobile tool sheds, adding to the load each day and allowing the overall weight to creep up. Others, he says, are at fault with the distribution of the load. He urges more small operators to invest in on-board weighers, or use weighbridges.
There is a maximum overloading fine of £5,000 for goods vehicles. In particularly bad cases, where danger is caused by goods falling onto the road, then the driver and operator can be charged 
under the Road Traffic Act 1988, endorsable with three penalty points.